12/4 SURJ Call Notes and Resources

posted by Dara Silverman | 18150sc
December 08, 2014

Thank you for joining the SURJ call on Ferguson on Thursday, December 4th (see notes and audio below). We had over 225 people on the call and many more who were out in the streets. Special appreciation to Alicia Garza from #BlackLivesMatter and Maurice Mitchell from Ferguson Action for joining us on the call.

As promised, here are materials and information to help you engage more white people in local actions in support of Mike Brown, Eric Garner, the people of Ferguson and NYC and the ongoing fight against systemic racism and police violence.

Action Planning: 53 people on the Thursday call said they were planning actions to engage white people this week! To support this, we created this action kit that covers all the nuts and bolts of putting together an action. In response to the call from Ferguson Action, SURJ is planning a special day of action for this Monday, December 15th. We are going to hold a conference call specifically about planning your action, tips for success and more time to ask questions about your action. It will be this Wednesday, December 10th at 9pm et/ 6pm pt, register here.

Notes from 12/4/14 Call (thank you Julia Daniels):

Brilliant words from Alicia Garza of #‎BlackLivesMatter and Maurice Mitchell of Ferguson Action (paraphrasing as best i can) “on the importance of everyone rolling up our sleeves now to demonstrate in this short window of time that thousands of people are demanding racial justice, accountability and the transformation of a system that is utterly broken. ”

“While it’s utterly critical that impacted folks, especial Black folks are leading this movement, it’s also important that white folks are also putting themselves on the line. Already, because people have been taking action, Obama has for the 3rd time in his presidency said something about racial disparities. We need white folks to say that this is also our issue and we will shut things down until we can transform the system.”

They also spoke on the necessity right now of “not letting our whiteness get in the way- as folks who want to be on the right side of history, that we don’t devolve into our insecurities, but make sure that the actions that we’re taking are strategic and increase pressure for change. We can’t do that if we’re struggling to figure out ‘is this my role?'”

Black people’s bodies are on the line everyday, they are forced to take risks everyday, so it’s essential that we as white people take risks, get over our shit and get out there!

“Black people are calling on us to stand up and stop this machine, otherwise we’ll have more murders of black children. now is the time for us to be taking action. How is it that we can stand up and put pressure on the places where the system is the weakest? We are not aligned, we do not agree and we will not comply with a system that doesn’t value black lives!”

We need to follow their lead and step up to this call for white folks to show up for racial justice!